Ranking every WWE 2018 PPV from worst to best

We are just weeks away from the end of 2018, and this past Sunday night, the WWE presented their final PPV of the year, TLC.

After initially cutting down on their PPV schedule, and making all PPVs duel branded, the WWE still managed to produce 15 PPV events this year, with three of them taking place outside of The United States, and one of them being the first ever all-female event in their history.

Like most years, 2018 has been a mixed bag in terms of quality, with the company some classic events and some absolute stinkers as well.

With that in mind, let's take a look back at all of the PPVs from 2018 and rank them from worst to best.

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#15: Crown Jewel

Crown Jewel will likely be remembered as one of the most controversial WWE events of all time. The events surrounding the show saw two of the company's top stars, John Cena and Daniel Bryan, refuse to attend the show and also saw the WWE shrowded in negative press.

Outside of the controversy before the event, the show itself was pretty woeful as well. The company made a farce of the World Cup by having Shane McMahon win the whole thing, seemingly to no end; they also managed to enrage their fanbase by having Brock Lesnar defeat Braun Strowman in a matter of minutes.

The rest of the show featured matches that ranged from poor to average, and ultimately, the whole thing is best left forgotten.

#14: Backlash

Backlash was an appropriate name — Backlash

After this event drew to a close, many fans were quick to label it as one of the worst WWE PPV's of all time. While that is definitely somewhat of an exaggeration, the show was still pretty terrible.

While the show wasn't without its highlights, notably The Miz Vs Seth Rollins in the opening bout, there was a lot of rubbish on this card, and the main event was one of the most painful to watch in recent memory.

Samoa Joe's clash with Roman Reigns, on paper at least, should have been excellent, but the two men put on an incredibly dull encounter that was only made worse by the crowd's insistent CM Punk chants.

This was also the card that featured the already infamous double low-blow finish in the match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, which was effectively the WWE's way of mocking a fan's dream match-up.

#13: Greatest Royal Rumble

Greatest Royal Rumble was a strange show

After a seriously hyped build, WWE's first-ever event in Saudi Arabia, Greatest Royal Rumble, turned out to be nothing more than a glorified house-show event.

The booking of several random matches on the card, including an instantly forgettable casket match between The Undertaker and Rusev, and an admittedly enjoyable opening encounter between John Cena and Triple H, didn't do the show any favors.

The titular Rumble match produced precisely one memorable moment: Titus O Neil sliding down the ramp during his entrance and ending up under the ring, and that was about it.

AJ Styles had yet another underwhelming encounter with Shinsuke Nakamura, while Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns took part in a fun cage match that had another weak finish.

#12: Extreme Rules

Extreme Rules failed to live up to its name

Extreme Rules, despite having plenty of promise on paper, turned out to be one of the most disappointing PPVs of 2018.

Taking place just one month before SummerSlam, the show failed to build any hype for the show and featured a series of well-intentioned, but ultimately forgettable bouts.

Team Hell No's reunion was ruined by Kane's injury, while the main event iron-man match between Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins, which could have easily been a match of the year candidate, was over-booked and poorly executed.

Bobby Lashley's match with Roman Reigns was a solid encounter, and AJ Styles and Rusev put on a good, but a far too predictable match for the WWE Championship.

As for the rest of the show, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Jeff Hardy in six seconds, and Finn Balor defeated Baron Corbin once again in another dull encounter.

#11: Super Show-Down

Super Show-Down felt like a big house show

WWE Super Show-Down, the company's first PPV in Australia in well over a decade didn't receive the same level of build as the two Saudi Arabia shows and the company seemed quite happy for it to be branded as a glorified house-show.

The show was perfectly fine, with no insultingly bad matches and very few memorable moments either.

The night's most memorable match saw Buddy Murphy topple Cedric Alexander to win the Cruiserweight title, much to the delight of his native Australian crowd.

The main event match between Triple H and The Undertaker was an incredibly sluggish affair, however, and it was one that received a fair bit of criticism from the WWE Universe.

#10: Elimination Chamber

Elimination Chamber featured two great chamber matches

Elimination Chamber was an incredibly average PPV card bookended by two excellent Elimination Chamber matches.

The night's opening match was the first ever all-female Elimination Chamber match, and while the outcome was predictable, the women put on an excellent show and managed to make another piece of history here.

The men's Elimination Chamber match took the main-event spot on the night and was, like the women's match, highly entertaining despite a predictable ending.

The rest of the card was fairly forgettable, with Asuka overcoming Nia Jax to cement her place at WrestleMania and Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt continuing their terrible feud.

#9: WrestleMania 34

To say this year's WrestleMania was a mixed bag would be an understatement.

The card featured some exceptional matches, most notably the opening Intercontinental Title bout, Ronda Rousey's incredible debut, and Charlotte and Asuka's excellent, streak-ending encounter, but the rest of the card fell a little bit flat.

By the time Braun Strowman dragged a ten-year-old child out of the crowd, a lot of fans had begun to lose interest, and the night's main event, which saw Roman Reigns get defeated by Brock Lesnar, felt as though it was played out purely for shock value, which seems to have been a recurring theme throughout the night.

#8: Fastlane

Fastlane was an underrated event this year

Fastlane may not have been one of the most memorable PPVs of 2018 but from an in-ring perspective, it was a solid, though not spectacular event.

The opening matches between Randy Orton and Bobby Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev were all fairly entertaining, and the Women's Title match between Charlotte Flair and Ruby Riott showed the WWE Universe exactly what the latter was capable of when given the right opportunities.

The night's best match, though, was the main event, which saw AJ Styles defend his WWE title against a collection of SmackDown's established upper mid-card acts at the time.

#7: Money in the Bank

Money in the Bank featured some great matches

This year's Money in the Bank PPV was an excellent show that, like so many other shows this year, was let down somewhat by some baffling booking decisions.

The two Money in the Bank matches were great fun and Alexa Bliss' cash-in on Ronda Rousey was perfectly executed, while AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura put on the best match of their series together on the night as well.

Elsewhere, however, James Ellsworth returned to cost Asuka the Women's Championship in one of the worst booking moves of the year, Jinder Mahal and Roman Reigns got booed out of the building during their match-up, and Sami Zayn and Bobby Lashley concluded one of the worst feuds of 2018.

#6: TLC

The final PPV of 2018 was very much a show of two halves.

While the first half of TLC was far from bad, the matches in the opening two hours ranged from poor to average, with a triple threat tag-team match for the SmackDown tag-team titles being the stand-out encounter.

Once the show headed into its final two hours though, things really picked up. Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey put on a great encounter for the Raw Women's Championship before AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan put on a technical masterclass for the WWE Title.

Not to be outdone, Becky Lynch, Asuka, and Charlotte Flair put on an incredible main-event match, which featured one of the best-judged walk-in finishes in recent memory.

#5: SummerSlam

This year's SummerSlam was a suitably wild-ride that featured several great matches and some equally bizarre booking decisions.

The night's highlight was undoubtedly the match between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, while the match between The Miz and Daniel Bryan was also met with a suitable amount of praise.

Much of the criticism on the night came from the night's main event, which saw Roman Reigns defeat Brock Lesnar, while Braun Strowman stood around holding his Money in the Bank briefcase.

For what it's worth, I found the whole idea quite fresh and felt like it added a little bit of drama to a match that we had seen several times already this year.

The night was let down by a bit of a lull period, which saw Shinsuke Nakamura defeat Jeff Hardy, Ronda Rousey defeat Alexa Bliss and Finn Balor squash Baron Corbin, while the less said about the match between Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens, the better.

#4: Hell in a Cell

For three-quarters of its runtime, Hell in a Cell was well on its way to being the best PPV of the year.

Matches between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch and the Hell in a Cell match between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton were both excellent, while Samoa Joe and AJ styles also brought an excellent end to their feud.

It is also featured one of the best tag-team matches of the year, as Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler defeated the team of Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.

While the show did go off a cliff with its divisive ending, this still turned out to be one of the hottest PPVs of the year.

#3: Evolution

It's been an incredible year for the women's division in the WWE, and their first ever PPV, Evolution, was nothing short of a resounding success.

Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair took part in one of the best main roster matches of 2018, while Nikki Bella and Ronda Rousey surprised the world when they put on a great main event match.

Elsewhere, Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler were excellent once again as they battled over the NXT Women's belt and Toni Storm and Io Shirai introduced themselves to the wider WWE Universe in style in the final of the Mae Young Classic.

The show stood head and shoulders above a lot of the main roster PPVs, and will hopefully become an annual tradition in the WWE going forward.

#2: Survivor Series

Survivor Series has reclaimed its spot as one of the year's best PPVs

Survivor Series has had something of a renaissance in recent years and has re-established itself as one of the most exciting PPVs on the WWE calendar.

After years of being treated as an afterthought, the card has risen from the ashes and taking its place back among the best WWE shows on the calendar.

While this year's event had a rushed build as a result of Crown Jewel and Roman Reigns' tragic announcement, the roster pulled together to deliver one hell of a show.

Daniel Bryan's main event clash with Brock Lesnar was excellent, while Ronda Rousey's clash with Charlotte Flair was nothing short of outstanding.

Elsewhere on the card, Shinsuke Nakamura and Seth Rollins delivered a hard-hitting technical masterclass, while Buddy Murphy once again shone against Mustafa Ali.

The traditional Survivor Series matches were fun but forgettable, and Drake Maverick's little incident left a sour taste in the mouth, but on the whole, this was easily one of the best PPVs of 2018.

#1: Royal Rumble

This year's Royal Rumble was an all-time great

This year, perhaps more than any other in recent memory, the top four (or five, if you include Money in the Bank) have lived up to their billing as the best events on the WWE calendar, and that all started at the Royal Rumble.

The event was excellent for a number of reasons, not least of which because it featured the first ever all-female Royal Rumble match, which took the headlining spot on the card.

Forgetting how both Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura were booked for the rest of 2018, this year's Royal Rumble matches finally provided fans with something they have wanted for years- Royal Rumble winners they could get behind.

While the rest of the show ranged from good (Owens Vs Zayn Vs Styles) to incredibly average (Kane Vs Brock Lesnar Vs Braun Strowman) it tops this list because of just how exciting the Royal Rumble encounters were.

Both matches were hands down two of the most exciting in over a decade and they managed to remind fans exactly why they love the Royal Rumble in the first place.

This event got 2018 off to a flying start, little did we know, that it would also end up being the event of the year 11 months later.

Edited by Shiven Sachdeva